Latics made it eight games unbeaten in all competitions and four straight victories in the Football League Youth Alliance on Saturday, winning 2-0 at Robin Park Arena against Rochdale thanks to a brace from Callum Lang, and a solid defensive display which saw Latics secure their eighth clean sheet of the season.

The victory has Latics well poised towards the top of the Youth Alliance on 19 points, just three behind leaders Bury on 22.

It took until three minutes into the second half for Latics to take the lead, but they did so with speed and precision in a typically fast flowing forward move.

Josh Gregory received the ball 10 yards inside his own half, playing through midfield to Chris Merrie who accurately threaded the ball wide left for Lang. The forward beat the offside trap to scamper free towards the edge of the area, before shaping to slot home into the bottom right corner of the Rochdale goal.

Latics turned in another impressive performance throughout the 90 minutes, defending resolutely when needed, and moving the ball well when in possession, but it was their dogged determination which led to the second goal.

With just 11 minutes left on the clock, Matty Rimmer battled his way through two players and multiple challenges before dropping the ball off for Luke Burgess, who along with Merrie managed to keep the ball in Rochdale's half, the latter finding a gap between the centre back and left full back perfectly for Lang to run onto, the forward lashed the ball across the keeper to find the bottom left corner.

Lang's well taken second doubled the lead at an important moment during the match, pushing the score line beyond the young Dale side as Latics held on to collect all three points.